Christian Life Church
July 26, 2026
- No One
- Refiner
- Way Maker
- Bless His Holy Name
- Dismiss Vanguard and NavigatorsIntroductionPlease stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Genesis 35:1–4 NKJV Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.This is the Word of the Lord, Amen? You may be seatedPray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray PrayWelcome back to our series “Almost Bethel”Almost Bethel Series Title SlideIn this series we talk about the fascinating fact that Jacob, after being told to return to Bethel on twice by God, instead lives just about 20 miles outside of Bethel for about a decade… he lived in almost Bethel for about 10 years!Now, with this series it is important that you understand what Bethel is, and what Bethel represents… because for us to understand what Almost Bethel is, we must first understand what Bethel means.Bethel comes from two Hebrew words: Beit and El… Beit El which means The House of God… this is the place where Jacob encountered God while running from his brother… the place God showed him the vision of the ladder with Angels descending and ascending from heaven and earth on it.About two thousand years later Jesus said that the ladder Jacob saw was actually Jesus Himself… so here at Bethel Jacob meets Jesus for the first time… it is here that Jacob takes the promises of God as his own for the first time… it is here that he realizes angles are going before him and behind him, that God is working… that no weapon formed against him, even by his brother… even his own mistakes… are not going to prosper, so long as he continues to push forward with God.Bethel represents the all in Christian life… being in the presence and promises and protection and prosperity of God.It is a place of worship, a place of healing, a place of encouragement, a place of vision… it is a place were man fellowships with angels and ultimately with God.It is Beit El, the house of God, the place of God’s dwelling… the place where you are surrounded and indwelt with all of who God is.Why would you not want to be ALL IN Bethel… why would you just want to be in ALMOST BETHEL?Now Last week we went over verse one of this chapter, where God now for the third time tells Jacob to go to Bethel… so the title of that sermon was the very direct question “What is Taking You So Long?”How many times does God need to call you into His presence… how many words? How many visions? How many miracles… before you finally decide to go all in?And God doesn’t just say “Go to Behel” but He says “Arise and go to Bethel... ““Arise” the Hebrew word qum, which is a command literally translated as “You, Get Up, Now!”… God says “You Jacob, Get Up, and Get all the way in my glory! GET UP AND GET THERE ALREADY!”Now remember, this is NOT a sermon series for the backslider, or the prodigal, or those far off from God… though doubtless God will use it for such people as well...But instead it is for people who are CLOSE to BETHEL… they are dwelling in ALMOST BETHEL… people who worship, who serve, who give… who legitimatly love and serve God, who hear His voice and desire to do His will… BUT SOMETHING IS KEEPING THEM FROM BEING ALL IN… Something is keeping them just a days journey out of all that GOd has for them… If that describes you, then this sermon series is for you… and I think it describes most of us… we are dwelling in ALMOST BETHEL… Well today, we are going to talk about what we need to do to prepare ourselves to go to the next level in our faith, to go the final 20 miles… to arise, to get up and get to glory, to get all the way into Bethel.Genesis 35:2–4 NKJV And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.Jacob says “Before we go, we got to get rid of some things… we need to get rid of foreign gods, we need to purify ourselves, and we need to change our garments”…So what did they do? They gathered up all the things that were not of God… and they burried them under a terabinth tree.That is why I titled today’s sermon Bury that NoiseBury that Noise Title SlideNow I have three points for today’s message, based off of the three things that Jacob told all who were with him to put away...Genesis 35:2 NKJV And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.(Put up fingers counting to three)Put away foreign gods.Purify yourselveschange your garments...Now I will tell you... as I study Genesis I read a lot of books and commentaries… one I go back to a lot id called Genesis From Creation to a Nation by Ken Fleming… and he framed Jacob’s command like this...Put away: True worship of the Lord will permit no rivals.Purify yourselves: True worship of the Lord will permit no sin.Change your garments: True worship of the Lord will permit no unholy testimony.Notes on Genesis 35, Genesis From Creation to A Nation, by Ken Fleming.I thought that was really good, so as I prepared today’s three points, I kind of launched from those… so today’s points, as we talk about not just true worship of the Lord, because I am preaching to true worshipers… but as we talk about Leaving Almost Bethel to go ALL IN to the glory of God, to go all the way to Bethel… our points are:Put Away Everything ElsePurify YourselfChange Your GarmentsAnd the sermon title is “Bury that noise” because when we talk about “Put away everything else” and we talk about purifying ourselves and we talk about changing our outward testimony, getting rid of our old selves and putting on the new...When we talk about these things your Almost Bethel nature might pop up and say “Okay, put away these things… but put them somewhere you can get them latter if you need them”...NO! Burry them!Genesis 35:4 NKJV So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.By the way, there is LOTS to talk about when it comes to the Terebinth tree by Shechem… but to keep it brief...er this morning, know that this tree was likely the tree that Abraham encountered the lord at in Genesis 12...Genesis 12:6–7 NKJV Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.So, if that is true… then not only was Jacob burying these things… but he was bringing them to the altar of God to bury them… literally leaving it at the altar...I think some of us Almost Bethelites have some things we need to leave at the altar, amen? Okay! Let’s get into it then with point one… Put away everything else… when you are ready to go all in, to go to the next level… to be square center in the promises and presence of God… when you are ready to leave almost Bethel and go into Bethel… You need to first put away everything that is not of God… put away everything else.Put Away Everything ElseGenesis 35:2 NKJV And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you...”Now, I recently preached a sermon where I went hard against false idols...We talked about Enneagrams, and Yoga, and Halloween… and many other actually demonic practices that are rooted in the worship of false god’s…And all of that remains important… people who are ALL IN… completely dead center in Bethel… they aren’t practicing Yoga and telling people their star signs… especially after they learn of their true origins…And I get that there are some Christian’s out there that think EVERYTHING is demonic and they are like “Pokemon?! THAT’S WITCHCRAFT!”...Nah it’s not, it’s Nintendo… You can have a Pikachu plushie and still be in Bethel…But just because some people take it to far with conspiracy theories, and poor research, and squinting at Monster Energy Drinks… just because SOME PEOPLE take it to far does not mean that there is not real evil in this world that we need to be careful of.So if someone says something is demonic, at least research it yourself… don’t just roll your eyes…But there is another kind of Idolatry that Scripture talks about… Pastor Jared talked about it in our last Men’s Rally…Colossians 3:5 NKJV Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.Here Paul expands our understanding of Idolatry to not just false god’s, but also anything that is “on the earth”… in other words, anything that is not of God that takes our time or attention away from God, especially sinful things… But this is hard for us to understand as Americans… as Almost Behelites… We love God… but also we love our hobbies, and our sports, and our amusements, and our ambitions… I think some of us think if we are not accomplishing something wordly, then we are somehow a failure to society… and we separate that wordly life from our Bethel life… It’s the Almost Bethel Experience…I will give you an example… Y’all know Sam Padgett? Mighty man of God, supper handsome and built… Dude who was Emcee last week… Sam called me last week and we had a great conversation, and I asked if I could share it.Sam said “I feel like I might be failing at life… I just don’t seem to have any ambition”.What do you mean?“Well I go to work, and I think I am doing a good job at work and providing for my family… but when I get home I just spend time with my kids and wife, and help around the house… I used to have ambition… I would practice guitar to get better, I would train in MMA… I would try to advance my life… I mean I don’t even play that many video games anymore, unless it is playing Minecraft with my son”.I said “Do you enjoy doing these things with your family?”He said “Yeah man! I love it!”“Then dude YOU ARE CRUSHING IT! Your ambition ought to be “I want to provide for my family and one day I want to see my wife, and children, and grandchildren in heaven!” God doesn’t care if you are the best Halo player in the room… you are never gonna be better than Pastor Jared anyway… and listen, God will inspire you if and when it is time to write guitar music for Him… but it doesn’t need to be an ambition… just be in His goodness with your family… and whatever God asks say YES!”Now don’t get me wrong… I am not saying that you can’t have hobbies and be in Bethel… but you can’t have hobbies that separate you from God… you can’t have a career that separates you from God… you can’t have friends that take you away from God… you can’t have ambitions that take you away from God…MAN! BURY THAT NOISE… don’t bury your friends… just stop hanging out with them if they are leading you away from Bethel...But any aspect of life that pulls you away from God, LEAVE IT AT THE ALTAR.If you can’t stop checking football scores during Sunday worship… you need to to bury that noise… I gave up on fantasy football 12 years ago because it distracted me from Bethel.If your kid’s T-Ball is effecting your families ability to worship… bury that noise… it is more important that your kids go to heaven then that they go to that T-Ball tournament…If you go to read your Bible every morning, but instead of the Bible you open up Facebook… BURY THAT NOISE… I took facebook off my phone… because Facebook has nothing on the Good Book and it was distracting me… BURY THAT NOISE… AMEN...And Especially if it is sinful you need to bury it! That is point two this morning.. Purify yourself.Purify YourselfGenesis 35:2 NKJV And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves...To purify yourself is to put away sin… to separate yourself from sin… and this definitely takes God’s help… but it also takes intentionality from you to ask for that help and to do what God tells you to do in order to get rid of the sin in your life.And again, I am talking to saints, not sinners… I am talking to the born again, to the converted, to the saved… I am talking to people who love God and fear God and serve God...And yet we saints… we can find ourselves dwelling in almost bethel unwittingly… why? Because we have sin in our lives and sin separates us from God.Isaiah 59:2 NKJV But your iniquities have separated you from your God...You are trying to live in Bethel… but you have this sin in your life and it is pushing you away from God… it is pushing you out of Bethel… maybe just a few miles… but separate you from God it does well enough...You need to bury that noise… leave that sin at the altar…You know exactly what sin I am talking about right now… I don’t need to list every sin, you love God… and you know what sin is separating you… Man have a holy Ghost moment this morning and leave it at the altar...I think some of y’all might need to come up to the altar right now, kneel at the terbinth tree of… these two steps… and just talk to God… tell Him sorry… and leave that sin at this altar...BUT PASTOR IF I COME UP TO THE ALTAR RIGHT NOW PEOPLE WILL KNOW I HAVE SIN! Yeah! We all have sin...1 John 1:8–9 NKJV If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.At any point in this church, you feel compelled to come to the altar and pray, and have time with Jesus! COME! When I am preaching, during worship… guys one time during a special offering Brother Eric came and got in the offering basket, symbolically saying God I give you every thing… Give God your sin this morning… and don’t take it with you…James 4:8 NKJV Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.2 Corinthians 7:1 NKJV Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.1 John 3:3 NKJV And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.Ezekiel 36:25 NKJV Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.Okay, so we have gotten rid of our idols… and we have purified ourselves… there is one more step… We need to change our Garments...Change Your GarmentsGenesis 35:2 NKJV And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.Ken Fleming, who I quoted earlier… suggest that this act of changing garments was symbolic, and even prophetic… that it was a changing of outward appearance… that we shouldn’t look like the Schechemites, or the Perezites, or the Canaanites…We shouldn’t look like the people who surround us in almost Bethel… but instead we should have a new appearance…And I am not talking about the actual clothes that we wear… though we should dress like Christians.… I am talking about the way we carry ourselves… the way we talk… the way we behave...DO you behave like someone who has been born again…Acts 3:19 NKJV Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,Now again, this almost Bethel Series is for people who have been born again… who have been saved… who have been converted...So if you have been converted then you have changed teams… you are no longer on team WORLD… you are no longer on team SELF… you are no longer on team satan… YOU ARE CONVERTED… YOU ARE NOW ON TEAM JESUS.Listen… LeBron James, the greatest basketball player of all times just signed a two year, 8 million dollar contract with the 76ers… He changed teams from the Lakers to the Sixers… now, how STRANGE would it be if he showed up to the first game of the season in a LAKERS jersey?It wouldn’t make sense, everyone would be confused… he would be forced to change in to a Sixers jersey or not allowed to play… Because that is what you do when you change teams… you stop wearing the old stuff and you put on the new stuff...Ephesians 4:21–24 NKJV if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man and put on the new man which was created by God.In otherwards… DOES YOUR LIFE LOOK DIFFERENT THAN IT DID BEFORE CHRIST?Or are you still bumping the same filthy music… watching the same filthy shows… reading the same filthy books... telling the same filthy jokes?When you showed up to work the next day, after giving your life to Christ… could people tell you were different? The way you talk, the joy in your voice, the way you carry yourself without burdens...How about now… do you still look different? Or did the old uniform slip back on?Man it is easy to slip back… you start feeling the nostalgia of those old jams… you see a reel that makes you laugh like you used to… you are interested in finish out that series because you just need to know how the story ends...You want to fit in with your coworkers… and they talk a certain way… and joke a certain way… and listen to a certain kind of music...But you shouldn’t look like them… If you want to go ALL IN to Bethel you got to change your clothes… Burry that old life… THAT’S NOT YOU ANYMORE.You think Lebron cares if the Lakers win this year? Nah! All he cares about is if the Sixers win...So stop carrying about your old life and be all in for Bethel!It’s the only way you are going to cross the Jordan and get out of Almost Bethel...Romans 6:5–6 NKJV For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.BURY. THAT. NOISE. Amen?So let’s close this thing down...ConclusionTurn On Children’s Class LampsGenesis 35:2–4 NKJV And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.Listen Saints… if you want to finally leave Almost Bethel and plant yourself FIRMLY in the center of God’s Glory… if you finally want to live in the place of meeting God, and knowing God, and fellowshipping with God… if you are finally ready to live all the way in Bethel where God has called you to time and time again… then you have to know that Sunday service is not enough.And Growth Track, and Men's or Women’s rally's… or youth group… or life in the word classes are not enough… LIFE INSIDE THESE WALLS A FEW HOURS A WEEK IS NOT ENOUGH TO BE ALL IN...Yes someone who is all in is here for those things… but it is those times in between that make the difference… it is the sin, and the idolatry, and the old life that tries to cling on… to hold us back… just a little bit… from the fullness of God...So we need to burry that noise… we need to Put Away Everything Else that distracts us from Bethel…We need Purify Ourselves from all sin and wickedness… because it separates us from God...And we need to Change Our Garments because we are not who we were before and our outward testimony should reflect that!Gospel CallAaronic Blessingיאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שׁלום"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presenceye·va·re'·khe·kha' · Adonai · ve·yeesh'·me·re'·khaya·eir · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · vee·khoon·ne'·kahees·sa · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · ve·ya·seim · le·kha · sha·lom"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence Genesis 35:1–4NKJV
Genesis 35:2–4NKJV
Genesis 35:2NKJV
Genesis 35:4NKJV
Genesis 12:6–7NKJV
Genesis 35:2NKJV
Colossians 3:5NKJV
Genesis 35:2NKJV
Isaiah 59:2NKJV
1 John 1:8–9NKJV
James 4:8NKJV
2 Corinthians 7:1NKJV
1 John 3:3NKJV
Ezekiel 36:25NKJV
Genesis 35:2NKJV
Acts 3:19NKJV
Ephesians 4:21–24NKJV
Romans 6:5–6NKJV
Genesis 35:2–4NKJV
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